Articles for Syria

Until last week, Ziad Ramadan remained detained in the Palestine Branch of Damascus Prison, where he has been stuck for over 5 years without trial or even being presented before a judge. However, Alkarama has learnt that he is to be presented before the Syrian State Security Supreme Court on Monday 17 January 2011.

This comes in the wake of increasing attention on his case by the United Nations human rights mechanisms, who have several times written to the Syrian government requesting that they explain Mr Ramadan's detention.

Alkarama submitted Dr Tuhama Mahmoud Ma'ruf's case to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression today. Dr Tohama was arrested on 6 February 2010 allegedly due to her membership to Syria's Communist Labor Party.

Azad Aziz Othman, a 29-year-old airport staff from Damascus, worked in the loading bridge at Aleppo International Airport. He was recently the subject of smear campaign during which he was threatened, arrested, beaten, and eventually being fired from his job.

Tuhama Mahmoud Ma'ruf, 46, a dentist, married with two children, was most recently arrested on 6 February 2010 by the criminal security forces in Aleppo, for her alleged involvement with the Communist Labor Party in Syria.

On 8 January 2009, plain clothed State Political Security agents arrested Kadar Saado at his office in Qamishli. He was held for two weeks at their headquarters before being taken to Al-Fayhaa district in Damascus and was then transferred to the capital's central prison "Adra".

Kadar Saado, a 32-year-old Syrian Kurd and IT expert is believed to have been arrested due to his relationship with Munzer Oscan, who was abducted in 2008 and held incommunicado for almost a year.

On 23 August 2010, on his way back to Germany from Syrian with his wife and three of his children, Ismail Abdi, a human rights defender of both Syrian and German nationalities, was taken in for questioning at passport control desks by border police and State Security agents.

Muhammad Ahmad Mustafa, Hasan Ibrahim Salih, and Maaruf Mulla Ahmad were arrested on 26 December 2009 following a summons by the State Security office in Qamishli.

Abd Al-Hafiz Al-Rahman

Alkarama has received information that the 3rd Military Unit Judge in Aleppo has unjustly sentenced Abd Al-Hafiz Abd Al-Rahman on Wednesday 29 September 2010 to a year's imprisonment under Article 288 of the Syrian Penal Code.